… The 45-minute session dealt mostly with the basics. But Lopes delivered his message in a charismatic, entertaining way, with a lot of the no-nonsense language one might expect from a 65-year-old baseball lifer who believes in doing things the right way, mixed with a little bit of humor.

The audience appeared to include every non-pitcher the Dodgers have in camp, and that audience burst into laughter on a few occasions, usually when Lopes would get especially animated while demonstrating the wrong way to do something.

For those who were paying attention, though, there were a lot of lessons.

For one, Lopes isn’t a fan of the headfirst slide. He also isn’t a fan of the slide into first base.

“There are two reasons why you slide,” Lopes told the assembly. “First, to slow your body down. … Second, to avoid a tag.”

And thus, Lopes said, the only time a slide into first base is justified is to avoid a tag if the player covering has to come off the bag to take an off-line throw. …

It appeared a minor signing at first, but Andrew Miller signed a potentially groundbreaking deal with the Red Sox. Miller would normally have to clear waivers if the Red Sox tried to send him to the minors, but his contract includes “a $3 million option for 2012 that vests if he’s claimed on waivers by another team,” as Dave Cameron of Fangraphs notes in his analysis. (Alex Speier of WEEI.com had the original story.) Miller’s base salary if he makes the majors is reportedly only $1.3 million.

Those of you who have enjoyed his pieces on baseball and politics will probably enjoy Nate Silver’s analysis of the Knicks-Nuggets NBA trade.